Studying Changes in Organizational Design and Effectiveness: Retrospective Event Histories and Periodic Assessments

William H. Glick, George P. Huber, C. Chet Miller, D. Harold Doty and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe
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William H. Glick: Graduate School of Business, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712
George P. Huber: Graduate School of Business, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712
C. Chet Miller: Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76798
D. Harold Doty: Department of Management, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
Kathleen M. Sutcliffe: Graduate School of Business, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712

Organization Science, 1990, vol. 1, issue 3, 293-312

Abstract: This paper describes assumptions, rationale, and track-offs involved in designing the research methodology used in a longitudinal study of the relationships among changes in organizational contexts, designs, and effectiveness. The basic research question concerns when how, and why do different types of organizational change occur. Given this research question and a desire to develop and test generalizable theory about changes in organizational design and effectiveness, we conducted a longitudinal study of over 100 organizations. Data concerning the changes were obtained through four interviews spaced six months apart with the top manager in each organization. Each interview provided a short-term retrospective event history over the preceding 6-month interval in aggregate, the four interviews provided a 24-month event history for each organization. Additionally, periodic assessments of the state of the organization's context, design, and effectiveness were collected with two questionnaires spaced one year apart. Finally, in each organization, the top manager's personal characteristics were assessed after all other data were obtained. This paper examines the alternatives, advantages, and disadvantages of the research design decisions. With some hindsight, we also offer some suggestions for future researchers with similar goals of developing and testing generalizable explanations of change processes in organizations.

Keywords: organization theory; organizational design; research methods; organizational change; organizational effectiveness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1990
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